Arts, Briefly; Change of Command At 'Commander in Chief'

By BILL CARTER; Compiled by Lawrence Van Gelder

Published: March 7, 2006

The troubled ABC drama ''Commander in Chief'' has lost its second supervisor in a season. Steven Bochco, right, has yielded control of the series to work on his own pilot, ABC executives said yesterday. Mr. Bochco, the creator of some of television's most praised dramas, including ''Hill Street Blues'' and ''NYPD Blue,'' took over ''Commander in Chief'' in October when ABC removed the show's creator, Rod Lurie, from day-to-day supervision. ''Commander in Chief,'' which stars Geena Davis as the first female president, started the season with strong ratings, but after several weeks, the production crew fell behind in delivering episodes, and the ratings began to fade. ABC installed Mr. Bochco, who was already signed with its affiliated studio Touchstone to develop another drama. Mr. Bochco took some weeks to make changes in the direction of ''Commander in Chief,'' but ratings never recovered, and ABC shelved the series in February, saying the move was temporary. It is scheduled to return April 18 and will finish the season, ABC said, with Dee Johnson, another executive producer, as the new supervisor. Mr. Bochco will remain an executive producer, but ABC executives said he had left the series and was now shooting his pilot, a crime drama called ''Hollis and Rae,'' in Savannah, Ga. BILL CARTER